Train collides with car on unguarded rail crossing; one killed

By Janene Pieters on August 13, 2018 - 08:56

Railroad. Photo: Qualle / Wikimedia Commons

An Arriva train crashed into a car at an unguarded rail crossing near Scheemda on Monday morning. The motorist was killed. The train driver remained unharmed. There were no passengers on the train, NOS reports.

The cause of the accident is not yet clear. There is currently no train traffic on the route between Groningen and Veendam.

This is not the first accident at this crossing. In 2015 a person in a car died after a collision with a train at the same crossing. Another collision happened in January of this year, but no one was killed.

Last month the Dutch Safety Board published a report saying that the number of casualties in accidents on railway crossings is unacceptably high and must be reduced. According to the Safety Board, the responsibility for the safety of crossings is too fragmented and the Ministry of Infrastructure should take over.

ProRail plans to get rid of the majority of the over 100 unguarded crossings in the Netherlands within three years.